Cointreau Caramel Orange Cake from Ravinder Bhogal

You know while feeding the baby and watching television, Ravinder's Kitchen came up and one of the episodes demonstrated this rather tempting looking recipe. You know when you rub your hands with a devilish glee, that's what I was feeling, my heart was brimming with the urge to give this a go. The orangey caramelly cake is delish - and I took this over for the weekend at mt inlaws!!!!

Ingredients:
3 oranges
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
150g flour, sifted
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs
150mls whole milk
75g butter

For the caramel:
150g caster sugar
250mls water
2 tablespoons Cointreau

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4 / 180 degrees C.To make the caramel, place the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed or cast iron pan – I use a 25cm tarte tatin pan. Swirl the sugar water until it turns dark amber in colour – do not stir, as this will cause it to crystallize. Swirl in the Cointreau and take off the heat. Carefully place the sliced oranges directly over the caramel, overlapping them slightly. For the cake batter, cream the butter, caster sugar and baking powder, a little at a time. Finally stir in the milk until all incorporated being careful not to overmix. Pour the batter over the caramel and oranges and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until
Pour the batter over the caramel and oranges and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until the sponge is springy and cooked through.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Ever since Ezra has been born everything has taken a back seat especially because I got this child after 7 years. I was diagnosed with a sickness which did not medically allow me to conceive but against all the odds that I was posed with I still went ahead with the commitment that I would have my second child - which I did. How? By the sheer faith in the God that I serve. I am slowly coming back to updating my blog and slowly trying to give this little space a little more spruce but for those who have been consistently looking through recipes out here. Seriously I am indeed grateful.
So when the visits from people were in plenty this was something I baked to serve the round of visitors that kept coming. An easy and impeccably lovely bake to try!

Ingredients:
Yield: 2 loaves (10-12 slices each)

3½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Set aside.In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes). Add the egg mixture gradually. Continue to mix for an additional 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Switch the mixer to low speed and gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans, smoothing out the top. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes - or until a toothpick inserted near the center tests clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely.